An acquaintance of mine likes to do a bit of trolling now and then, how do my friend's actions affect the BGS?
What effect does mass murder have on a faction and the BGS?
- Thread starter Captain Maggot
- Start date
Influence and security go down.
Your name on the bounty board so they know who's doing it.
Your name on the bounty board so they know who's doing it.
by how much? 1% per 10 heads? 5% per 100 heads? or is that not known yet? -Asking for a friend
It's not linear.
It's subject to the same sort of diminishing returns as any other BGS action.
If you do nothing but murder, you'll probably not shift very much at all.
I- My friend wasn't aware of that, how does he prevent the diminshing returns? He isn't really familiar with BGS.
The pinned post in this forum section would be a good place to start.
Don't Panic: BGS guides and help
The Collected Knowledge of the BGS Community on the Background Simulation There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Background Simulation is for and how it works, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable...
Diminishing returns apply to all BGS transactions.
Basically, if you just do the same action over and over, that action will become less and less effective as the day goes on.
So your second murder is worth less than your first, your third is worth less than that, and so on. Eventually, once you're up to your 60th murder, grabbing a 61st probably isn't worth the effort and you can make a bigger impact doing something you've not done yet. There's no way to prevent it, you just have to deal with it.
For instance, instead of that 61st murder, you might want to try running an inf+++++ mission for another faction in the system. Or cashing some bounties for a faction other than the controller. Or trading at a port that isn't owned by the controller. And so on.
hmm, so positive action on the guys I like, negative "action" on the guys I don't. Thanks
Yup.
Note, this will achieve an effect of "transferring" influence.... it's not a literal transfer, it's just how the maths works out.
But echoing what screemonster said.... think of it like this.
You murder once? Great.
You murder a second time? That's a 100% improvement on your current tally of murders (now 2).
You murder a third time? That's a 50% improvement on your current tally of murders (now 3).
You murder a fourth time? That's a 25% improvement on your current tally of murders (now 4).
...
You murder a 51st time? That's a ~2% improvement on your current tally (now 2%)
But then you trade a second time? That's a 100% improvement on your daily trades.
The mechanics are more complex than that, butit gives you a rough idea.
I suppose that's a fairly obvious take, in hindsight, but a good way of thinking about it, nontheless. Thanks, it makes a lot more sense now.
BGS effect it's mostly due to bounties (the ones you earn on your head), not murders.
If you murder wanted ships nothing happens, if you murder anyone in anarchy system... nothing happens.
As well as, if you are Delaine 5 rank and murder ships in Delaine space, nothing happens.
If you murder wanted ships nothing happens, if you murder anyone in anarchy system... nothing happens.
As well as, if you are Delaine 5 rank and murder ships in Delaine space, nothing happens.
On the bounty board often has "CMDR Unknown" and some have three sets of "Local Bounties"....I never worked out what these are?
I think the three sets now (finally) have names. I noticed 'local' and 'intersteller' at the station I logged-off at. It didn't have Powerplay bounties so couldn't check that one.
I haven't played seriously for a while, but from my experiences
If you want to murderize people, you need to be smart about it.
1: plan. Take a gander at the stations and who controls them, taking note of surface bases, outposts and major stations.
2: observe. Are players active here? When are they active? What state is the system in, what POIs?
3: killing: note you have many avenues to really mess people up-
A: fines- be a total git, fail missions, get scanned, smuggle (and get scanned)
B: assaults- an assault is worth 1/4 of a kill, but with no notoriety. Its perfectly possible to just fire one laser and tag everyone, gain an assault charge and leave. This means no ATR, no notoriety.
C: Kill- depending on security level this is the fun part. Low sec has a 2 minute timer, medium sec 30 (IIRC) and high is < 10 seconds. Choose a weak target that belongs to your target faction and interdict it. Having wide angle capture is ideal.
Notes:
If you kill a civilian, the 'first responders' will normally be a VM3 and VM4. These are fiddly and the VM4 will slow you down.
If you kill a popo you will get a police strike group. This will be an Eagle, VM3 and an Anaconda. Other groups include Eagle, Python, Anaconda, or wings of 4 that can have double Vipers or Eagles. Medium and high sec sometimes have Vulture and Python wings.
My personal preference is for the latter because...
......chain killing. Efficient killing requires a constant flow of victims. Civilian kills are slower to start while police kills are fast off the bat. The alternative is to abuse the POI system, and look for distress beacons with ships that have run out of fuel. Ones with 30 minutes on the clock are ideal for this- drop in, 'help' them by blowing them up, LW, return, help, LW etc. Be wary of other POI types as these can bog you down when you want swiftness...why?
ATR. Golden rule 1: COUNT YOUR KILLS. Each security level (low med high) has a threshold for ATR. Generally in low sec its 8-10 ships but count what you kill and be ready for the 'ATR is coming' sign. Once you get this LEAVE. DO NOT KILL OR SHOOT ANYTHING ELSE. If you do, ATR spawn immediately and will be a nuisance.
ATR generally are in Vultures with twin R5 LR burst lasers with reverb. If you hang around they will take your shields, and if you try to run they'll spawn in groups around you.
So- do not get fixated on your target (like with those VM4s). Be ready to just up and go, especially since bounties now stick, and doing murder is...expensive.
Once you get ATR HW out of the system and return, this will reset the 'chain'. But to be sure choose your first fresh chain kill wisely (i.e. soft target for quick complication free kill).
Sometimes anti violence protestors turn up. Kill them too if they belong to the faction with G5 Irony beams
You can also misuse interdictors- be watchful for security ships (or non wanted BH) interdicting another ship. Now, you interdict the BH / sec. It will fail with a fine. Just keep on spamming the interdiction and you can rack up 4- 10 fines. Be aware through a quirk of the game these actions do count towards summoning ATR.
Opportunism: wings of security have a bug where if you escape interdiction by the lead ship the wingmen lose all AI So, if you interdict these wingmen they sit there......its hard to get it to happen but its funny.
Always look at the 'owner' of a POI- sometimes these will spawn the only targets possible.
BGS tips: kill 10 ships and wait for the next tick. Adjust killing to increase effect but it has to be done synergistically with +ve actions for your faction.
Depending on who owns what stations (and the jurisdictions the sit in) you can also kill other faction ships (NOT YOUR OWN obvs) as this will impact the sec rating of the lead faction (since they are not policing right). Its best to stick to a 2:1 (2 main faction, 1 rando faction) ratio but again this is down to testing and observing.
If you do kill other factions, think of the repercussions outside of that system. Some factions might complicate your life elsewhere.
If a rival holds a surface base...jackpot! No ATR, destruction of guns, generators (or even just shooting the base) results in assault charges. Some bases spawn security ships. Kill them for a murder charge. Relog and repeat as you feel really, or LW in and out.
Do not be afraid to shoot stations- sometimes spawns of ships just don't happen. Well, make them happen if the target faction owns a station or outpost- shoot it (from a distance obv) and wait. After a set amount of time security will appear for your consumption.
Do note though FD have nerfed murder hard several times, and have changed the rules so bounties stick to you. It may be easier if you stick to black markets / fail missions because FD are enemies of fun sometimes.
If you want to murderize people, you need to be smart about it.
1: plan. Take a gander at the stations and who controls them, taking note of surface bases, outposts and major stations.
2: observe. Are players active here? When are they active? What state is the system in, what POIs?
3: killing: note you have many avenues to really mess people up-
A: fines- be a total git, fail missions, get scanned, smuggle (and get scanned)
B: assaults- an assault is worth 1/4 of a kill, but with no notoriety. Its perfectly possible to just fire one laser and tag everyone, gain an assault charge and leave. This means no ATR, no notoriety.
C: Kill- depending on security level this is the fun part. Low sec has a 2 minute timer, medium sec 30 (IIRC) and high is < 10 seconds. Choose a weak target that belongs to your target faction and interdict it. Having wide angle capture is ideal.
Notes:
If you kill a civilian, the 'first responders' will normally be a VM3 and VM4. These are fiddly and the VM4 will slow you down.
If you kill a popo you will get a police strike group. This will be an Eagle, VM3 and an Anaconda. Other groups include Eagle, Python, Anaconda, or wings of 4 that can have double Vipers or Eagles. Medium and high sec sometimes have Vulture and Python wings.
My personal preference is for the latter because...
......chain killing. Efficient killing requires a constant flow of victims. Civilian kills are slower to start while police kills are fast off the bat. The alternative is to abuse the POI system, and look for distress beacons with ships that have run out of fuel. Ones with 30 minutes on the clock are ideal for this- drop in, 'help' them by blowing them up, LW, return, help, LW etc. Be wary of other POI types as these can bog you down when you want swiftness...why?
ATR. Golden rule 1: COUNT YOUR KILLS. Each security level (low med high) has a threshold for ATR. Generally in low sec its 8-10 ships but count what you kill and be ready for the 'ATR is coming' sign. Once you get this LEAVE. DO NOT KILL OR SHOOT ANYTHING ELSE. If you do, ATR spawn immediately and will be a nuisance.
ATR generally are in Vultures with twin R5 LR burst lasers with reverb. If you hang around they will take your shields, and if you try to run they'll spawn in groups around you.
So- do not get fixated on your target (like with those VM4s). Be ready to just up and go, especially since bounties now stick, and doing murder is...expensive.
Once you get ATR HW out of the system and return, this will reset the 'chain'. But to be sure choose your first fresh chain kill wisely (i.e. soft target for quick complication free kill).
Sometimes anti violence protestors turn up. Kill them too if they belong to the faction with G5 Irony beams
You can also misuse interdictors- be watchful for security ships (or non wanted BH) interdicting another ship. Now, you interdict the BH / sec. It will fail with a fine. Just keep on spamming the interdiction and you can rack up 4- 10 fines. Be aware through a quirk of the game these actions do count towards summoning ATR.
Opportunism: wings of security have a bug where if you escape interdiction by the lead ship the wingmen lose all AI
So, if you interdict these wingmen they sit there......its hard to get it to happen but its funny.Always look at the 'owner' of a POI- sometimes these will spawn the only targets possible.
BGS tips: kill 10 ships and wait for the next tick. Adjust killing to increase effect but it has to be done synergistically with +ve actions for your faction.
Depending on who owns what stations (and the jurisdictions the sit in) you can also kill other faction ships (NOT YOUR OWN obvs) as this will impact the sec rating of the lead faction (since they are not policing right). Its best to stick to a 2:1 (2 main faction, 1 rando faction) ratio but again this is down to testing and observing.
If you do kill other factions, think of the repercussions outside of that system. Some factions might complicate your life elsewhere.
If a rival holds a surface base...jackpot! No ATR, destruction of guns, generators (or even just shooting the base) results in assault charges. Some bases spawn security ships. Kill them for a murder charge. Relog and repeat as you feel really, or LW in and out.
Do not be afraid to shoot stations- sometimes spawns of ships just don't happen. Well, make them happen if the target faction owns a station or outpost- shoot it (from a distance obv) and wait. After a set amount of time security will appear for your consumption.
Do note though FD have nerfed murder hard several times, and have changed the rules so bounties stick to you. It may be easier if you stick to black markets / fail missions because FD are enemies of fun sometimes.
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Yeah, that's an old bug. The Local, Superpower and Powerplay bounty boards all get labelled as "local" and you have to sorta guess which one is which.
Its pretty easy if I recall- Superpower bounties go up in even amounts and are not huge (10, 100 thousands sort of thing). Local bounties can be massive, running into the billions of credits and Powerplay normally is quite low unless its a UM hotspot (but you can tell by the Powerplay report regards lost shipping / pirated stuff).
I heard that bug is fixed at current update.
Wrong, it's pretty much the opposite from our testing. If you murder ships from faction A in system controlled by B, you'll get a bounty with B, but A will see the negative BGS effect. On top of that, in the described case, your rep with B doesn't get hurt at all & if you're friendly with them, the security ships won't even really bother coming after you in supercruise or around stations.
Thanks, surely something simple like that takes 5 minutes to fix....